Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded Applied Biomedical Science Institute a Project Grant of $976,318 under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) on April 6, 2026, with a project completion date of March 31, 2031. The award funds research to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the cow immune system's production of ultralong complementarity-determining region H3 (CDR H3) antibodies—a unique structural variant that produces antibody fragments approximately one-third the size of camelid nanobodies. The research will employ bioinformatic, molecular, and genetic analyses to understand the atypical V(D)J recombination event responsible for generating these antibodies and will evaluate the source of the unusual adenine-rich insertional sequences involved in their formation.

The grant also supports structural and physiological characterization of CDR H3 "knob" domains through crystallography, electron microscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine antigen-binding mechanisms and validate whether free knob structures are identical to their parent antibodies. The research products will advance understanding of how broadly neutralizing antibodies with long CDR H3 regions form in humans, with direct applications to vaccine development strategies and therapeutic interventions against viral pathogens, including coronavirus variants. The project will be conducted at the awardee's San Diego, California facility.